My Three Sons

I do, MOTHER FUCKER!

I HATED that show. My parents had some absurd notion that my brothers and I should be as sweet and obedient as the Douglas boys.

Never could get into My Three Sons reruns as a kid. It was just very meh. Fred MacMurray was dull, the sons were dull, William Demerest was annoying. For some reason they never showed the earlier seasons with Fred Mertz or hottie Tim Considine.

They must have really run out of ideas by season 12. Today had Steve's identical cousin from Scotland coming to America to find a bride. Identical cousins must have been a big thing in 60s TV shows.

Once attended a thanksgiving dinner and was told that one of the my three sons actors was seated next to me .I think it was the red headed one Stan Livingston. After a few glasses of wine I turned to him and said " I heard Fred MacMurray was a cheap SOB" He laughed and responded "Ya heard right".

The show has always had a subdued, boring feel. It's as if all the cast members were drugged.

Chip... Chipper,,, the Chipster…. always wanted to slap him.

All I can really remember about it is the opening title sequence with the tapping animated shoes.

It was so unfunny and so square.

This is one of my favorite bits... the Douglas family shows how hip they are by using an impromptu family musical ensemble to perform the latest groovy sounds of swinging London.

[quote] They must have really run out of ideas by season 12. Today had Steve's identical cousin from Scotland coming to America to find a bride. Identical cousins must have been a big thing in 60s TV shows.

Yes, because they're cousins. Identical cousins all the way. One pair of matching bookends, different as night and day. Still they're cousins. Identical cousins and you'll find they laugh alike, walk alike, and at times even talk alike.

R10 If you knew that without looking it up you 1) are old and 2) need help

R10, thanks for injecting The Patty Duke Show here.

r11: And you are Blocked.

OP They canceled the show just three years after Dodie joined the show. Imagine that.

Fun fact: the actress who played Dodie was Leif Garrett's sister

Doesn't excuse her poor acting.

identical cousins do exist. had a grad school classmate with one. After she dumped husband #1, he wound up seeing (but not marrying) the identical cousin, who lived in Germany!

Dodie, baby butch.

Don Grady (Robbie) was sort of a cutie but always had a "lizard" man look. Great ass though until he became borderline anorexic (cocaine habit?).

Dodie tormenting poor Dottie Hinkle.

I loved the show when I was a kid. I also thought it was very gay, what with all men in the house for many seasons, and I assumed "Uncle Charlie" was Fred McM's lover. I'm fairly certain that is why I am attracted to the clean cut wholesome kinda preppy Douglas boys type.

OP The oldest Douglas brother, Mike, left the show in 1965 after five seasons, And even though the show ran seven more seasons, Mike was only mentioned a few times.

Meanwhile, they had to adopt another son so they would have Three Sons. Enter Barry Livingston as Ernie.

FYI Barry Livingston was the real life brother of Stanley Livingston who played Chip. So, wrap your head around this -- they hired Chip's real life brother to play his fictional adopted brother.

The kid who played Ernie wrote a book about his acting experiences. The other Livingston brother and it was a good read. Most of the time Fred wasn't there, he had the same deal Brian Keith had on Family Affair. The other actors acted opposite a mop when Fred wasn't around. He also spoke about how cheap he was.

Thanks for the heads up, R22. I just ordered the book.

[quote]I'm surprised at the longevity of MTS, because it seems to have a real "dated" quality to it.

Season one is wonderful. All down hill after season two.

Three decades ahead of Seinfeld, it was truly the first sitcom about nothing.

The show was just easy watching and was NEVER novel or titillating at all. I only saw it in syndication, but at least on a daily basis verses weekly - it was somewhat more palatable. The last 3 or 4 seasons were pretty horrible. Literally EVERY actor was phoning it in and that obnoxious "Polly" who was always trying to rape and marry Chip. Ughhhhh...

All you fags wanted to BE Katie Douglas. (Tina Cole)

You wanted to dress like her, sing like her, have her groovy hair and have Don Grady's ass babies

Just admit it

Shove triplets through one of my orifices? No thank you.

Come on R27, if that tiny little bubble-butted shortie Don Grady were to have sex with a man - he would DEFINITELY HAVE BEEN THE BOTTOM.

don grady was the cute one, I had the pleasure of watching the landing of Apollo on the moon, summer of 69 with him, and a man who headed a record company from whom he wanted a possible record contract. don was hot....

It's a TV-watching comfort memory from the era. I remember liking and watching a lot on...Sunday nights in its first-run primetime slot, I believe? I thought Tina Cole and her blonde-version Diana Ross bouffant Supremes flip hairstyle were so cool, plus I knew that she was one of The King Sisters family singers. Like posters above echoed, it was never mind-blowing television--its vibe, acting and character interactions always reminded me of a family comedy sitcom version of the late-1960s color reboot of the police series "Dragnet." Don Grady--definitely some really dreamy stuff. And I liked Dodie, her mom, and later Polly with her big '70s-yarn ponytails. I just really remember only the later color seasons. In perspective, there were relatively so many fewer TV network and programming options during that era compared with now; it can sort of make you understand better in retrospect how such a show as "My Three Sons" lasted and remained popular for so long.

I only watched my 3 sons for don grady, he was so very cute.... later years with Bub sucked.

[quote]later years with Bub sucked.

That's impossible, as Bub (William Frawley) was only in the early years.

You know Uncle Charlie popped at least one of those boicherries.

With that voice, you knew he was a verbal top.

[quote]I thought Tina Cole and her blonde-version Diana Ross bouffant Supremes flip hairstyle were so cool, plus I knew that she was one of The King Sisters family singers.

I had a HUGE gay boy crush on Tina Cole! My city had a telethon every year to benefit cerebral palsy. One year she was a featured guest. I waited hours for the opportunity to meet her and have her sign my autograph book. I brought it to school the next day, I was so very proud of it. I am now friends with her on Facebook and get regular posts about her and the rest of the King Cousins. Her cousin Cam, who was one of the younger "King Kids" is an out gay man and is the keeper of the King Family history. And yes, I am fully aware of how very "Mary!" my post is.

R5, He would invite people to lunch, but then not even reach for his wallet when the bill came.

Bub was better than William Demerest. Demerest always seemed like an old sailor to me.

Saw repeats as a child. I distinctly remember Chip (the youngest) and his big ass.

Back in the '70s through mid-'80s local stations only showed the reruns that were shot in color. They thought families that had just shelled out for a color TV would have zero interest in anything that was black and white. So no Mike, no Bub. Then Nick at Nite started showing the black and white episodes and the whole secret previous lives of the Douglas clan were revealed. Chip had blonde hair, no Ernie, no grouchy Uncle Charley. The scales fell from our eyes.

To answer OP, I think think the show ever set the world on fire, but you have to remember, back then there were three TV networks. No cable or satellite, no VCRs, no streaming, no nothing. For electronic entertainment, most Americans had their choice of shows on one of the Big Three. This captive audience meant that shows stayed on LOOOOOONG after they should have gracefully departed the airwaves. See also: everything Lucille Ball did post-divorce.

The show was very popular when it originally ran. I loved it. My young loins burned for Robbie.

Tina had SUCH a 60s look. I loved it. I remember as a kid being enthralled with her hair. And Don was indeed hot.

It's the 3rd longest running (live action) sitcom after Ozzie & Harriett & It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

I remember one of the show's television sponsors was Hunt's Catsup.

They made a commercial featuring the boys sucking tomato inside an empty catsup bottle by using a lighted match.

Does anyone else remember this bit of1960s television advertising trivia?

Love it, R35. As odious as much of social media is, it is fun to be able to connect with our old faves, who were incredibly remote as stars back then. Can you imagine going back in time and telling your young self, “One day you and Tina will be friends on Facebook!” It sounds so strange, makes you wonder what marvels the future holds, like virtual reality friendships?

There must have been so much jizz in that household.

Barry Livingston (Ernie) been a busy beaver since his M3S days. He has a resume most jobbing actors should envy. Can't say the same for his brother Stanley (Chip) who has done considerably less work in the industry since M3S.

A commercial mentioning the "big tomato in the bottle."

Another one:

I watched this in reruns because it was between Brady Bunch and Gilligans Island on the local station. I can’t remember any of the plots and the clothes and hair were very dated looking by the early 80s. In retrospect those 60s looks are better than 80s hair and fashion.

Don Grady was devoon! Before becoming Don Grady he was Don Agrati on The Mickey Mouse Club. He was Lani O'Grady's (Eight Is Enough) brother.

Stanley Livingston is a tiny little thing here between his real brother Stanley and Don Grady.

Sorry, that should be "Barry Livingston is a tiny little thing".

I love you R35 for all of your Mary!-ness!

I only saw this show in reruns and it was my father's favorite. When it was on he'd sit and watch it while berating his own kids for being garbage and no Goddamn good compared to those TV kids.

Unwatchable in its later years. The first season was the best--I remember seeing the reruns on Nick at Nite--complete with Chevy footage in the closing credits. The first season was written well with a lot written and directed by Peter Tewksbury. Unfortunately he didn't do things on the cheap and they brought in hacks for the rest of the show. I think they did the identical cousin thing more than once. Frawley was less annoying than Demerest, but became uninsurable.

Ozzie & Harriet was the original show about nothing and began well before this one. Barry Livingston, btw, had a recurring role on Ozzie and Harriet. He had a lock on funny looking but likable kid roles.

I brought some desperately needed glamour to the endeavor.

R51, Barry is short...but...he is sitting in a chair in that pic and Stanley and Don are standing.

You can all suck it.

Tim Considine was nice looking. Didn't he go back to the Mouseketeers with Gaysketeer Tommy Kirk?

R58, Not only did Fred never win an Academy Award, he never received a nomination.

How come Don was handsome and his sister was SO ugly? How's that possible

Because they had the same face, R61. It didn't look as good on a chick.

It was a hot because there was only three networks. ABC< CBS & NBC and a few independent stations. NY had PBS, WOR Channel 9 and WPIX 11 butt hey didn't have original programs so there wasn't much of a choice. Plus Fred MacMurray was a movie star. Though he didn't like to work have a three day work day. Watch how little he is in each episode.

Here's Italian Stallion Don Agrati in the Burbank High School yearbook.

Beverly Garland invested her money in a successful hotel in LA. Her sons run it now. Tina Cole was married to Beverly's son and they had three kids. Beverly also hosted the first Hollywood Show autograph shows at the hotel.

It's amazing how much more memorable the opening sequence were (animated tapping shoes and that music) than the show itself.

I must have watched it a lot (and I'm sure my young proto-gay self was mostly watching for the couple of relatively hot guys but who knows), but I literally have almost no memory of what the show was ABOUT. No plots, barely even the people. I remember Uncle Charley, Chip, and the Dad, mostly because they were annoying.

Ah yes, the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn in N. Hollywood. Somewhat nicer (and more expensive) than most Holiday Inns.

The Garland inn has a nice patio for brunch.

Never knew Beverly was Tina's Mother-In-Law until I looked her up.I always confused Tina with Mark Harman's sister Kristin Harmon who was married to Ricky Nelson.

The BG....

I know I ask for each and every one of us, r64. WHET to Elaine Guy???

Funny how Don back then had to Anglicize his "ethnic" Italian name.

R71 I wonder if this is her. Famous for 1969's "Naked Angels."

Who had a bigger dick, Don or Burt Ward?

The only credit for anyone named Elaine Guy in IMDb is this schlock from 1969. I have no idea if it's the same Elaine Guy who went to high school with Dan Grady.

[quote] Funny how Don back then had to Anglicize his "ethnic" Italian name.

Why did Lani Irish-ize hers?

Elaine Guy played.....Ginny.

What the hell did Bev say to Miss Kitty???

R76 You mean Lanita. She probably wanted to set herself apart from her brother. "Now I'M the one in a top-rated network family series!" Mama and Papa Agrati must have been proud of their two kids.

Young Don must have hated putting on those stupid mouse ears.

I was fuckin all the lil bastards!

If it wasn't for Nick at Nite in the 90s, I never would have known that Mike existed or that the show as in black and white. For some reason they didn't syndicate the early years of the show, at least not in my market.

What was weird was that they married off Robbie, Chip AND Steve in the later years--I think for a lot of Americans it became like seeing their own family members getting married.

It was also weird that much of the humor of the show just depended on Uncle Charlie being cranky. Who would want to see that in real life? It would be like a horrible Thanksgiving that never ended.

I was raped by the three son of a bitches and I’ll never forget it.

Here Barry Livingston talks about working with Frawley and Demorest, who hated each other's guts. Frawley was a drunk, but a relatively happy drunk. Demorest was sober, but not much fun to be around.

What Barry didn't mention and something I read about long ago was that after Frawley was written out (due to his declining health) he kept showing back up at the studio repeatedly, some said because he thought they would eventually get rid of Demorest and take him back. It got so bad the studio had to ban him from the lot, except they didn't tell him. The day he showed up and was told he was no longer allowed on the property was not a good day.

Lucy had him back for a cameo (same lot). I suspect the keep returning thing was an urban myth.

Nope, he kept showing back up on the M3S set, not just coming onto the lot. The article I read said it got so bad he and Demorest almost came to blows at least once as Frawley would waste no opportunity to antagonize Demorest when and if he got the chance.

Frawley's contract with I Love Lucy had a clause written in that provided for his removal from the series if he didn't keep his well known drinking and work related deficiencies under control.

[quote] Both Ball and Arnaz agreed it would be great to have Frawley, a motion picture veteran, appear as Fred Mertz. Less enthusiastic were CBS executives, who warned of Frawley's frequent drinking and instability. Arnaz warned Frawley about the network's concerns, telling him that if he was late to work, arrived drunk, or was unable to perform because of something other than legitimate illness more than once, he would be written out of the show. A slightly different version of this conversation holds that Arnaz told Frawley he would get three chances. The first screw-up would be tolerated, the second would result in a severe reprimand, and the third would result in his being fired.

It's hard these days to understand how much TV watching used to involve NOT actually watching. Unless you were watching public TV, programming was heavily loaded with commercials that were if anything even more stupid and obnoxious than they are now, and the quality of picture and sound were terrible by today's standards. As often as not you'd be walking in and out of the room, talking to other people, and doing other things while the program was on. And most of the time you saw a sitcom like "My Three Sons," it wasn't in prime time but in reruns during the day or on weekends. You also have to remember that TV was free. Other than your initial investment in the set and maybe an arial on the roof, you weren't paying anything for what you were watching, so there was less of that subtext of having to watch it because you'd paid for it.

TIna Cole was one of the King Family Singers, a group of blond boring singers who, for some reason, had a number of specials during the 60s. If I'm not mistaken, they might have had a weekly tv show for a while. It was the blondest, blandest, whitest variety show you can imagine.

Tina getting her groove on singing the Beatles with the Four King Cousins (she's the shortest of them).

It depresses me to think of some middle-aged dad in small-town Missouri in 1969 watching that clip at r91 and being turned on by those tight hideous outfits. "I'd like to peel those purple slacks off of her!" You know that was the whole idea behind them.

Tina Cole did add some charm to MTS, but Beverly Garland and Ronne Troup (who played Polly) added nothing, and Dodie was absolutely unbearable. As a kid I would turn the show off if she were on it. She always spoke as if she could not breathe through her nose.

Beverly Garland was an easy to cast wife--she's played it multiple times, but not a great actress. Her early work was as a scream queen in tight sweaters in Roger Corman films. Like Lyle talbot, she was a bland but not unwelcome presence who probably had some very interesting stories to tell.

In his book Barry Livingston talks about how Frawley would go to the set of Here's Lucy and throw something when Vivian had a line to read and then run off laughing. He sounds like a hoot.

I liked Beverly on MTS, i thought she added to the show, Dodie not so much.

R55 yes, Ozzie and Harriet, was the original show about nothing, but it was also fun and entertaining. I have many of their episodes on DVD and my hard drive, and I enjoy and watch them. But, My Three Sons, is abut nothing and is boring as shit.

It was one of the most popular tv shows of all time.

Our entertainment tastes back in those days were far more innocent than those of today. In those days TV sitcom married couples were not even allowed to be seen getting into the same bed. They always had to sleep in twin beds. The sexual revolution had not taken place yet.

Vance and Frawley did hate each other's guts. Hell, he was old enough to be her father. When she heard he had died she said "CHAMPAGNE FOR EVERYBODY!!".

I don't think you were able to marry into that family unless you contractually agreed to "sing" and "dance".

I love Barry Livingston's voice. So crisp and clear. He seems like he's probably a good decent guy.

Don Grady was so beautiful...

[quote]Frawley would waste no opportunity to antagonize Demorest when and if he got the chance.

Can't say I'm surprised. Nope.

I watched for Tim Considine, whom I considered hotter than Don Grady. I'd been watching him since Mickey Mouse, Spin & Marty, and Swamp Fox. Just a few weeks ago, I caught a guest episode of Medical Center in which he played a campus hippie protester.

A tribute to Miss Ronne Troup

Ronne Troup was on Knots Landing as the nanny to Meg.

Reunion!

R78 that's NOT Miss Kitty that Beverly Garland is fighting.....it's the 50 foot woman herself, Allison Hayes, in the Roger Corman oater GUNSLINGER.

The six day shoot encountered so much rain and mud that Allison asked: "Who do I have to fuck to get off this picture?"

I really like this song!

These chicks really have a Nancy Sinatra influence in their makeup and head movements.

I sit corrected, r108.

Tim Considine was married to Miss Beadle from Little House on the Prairie for a few years. Not sure if it was before or after she was fucking Jim Morrison

R105, she reminds me of a few other actresses, including bits of Meg Ryan and Peggy Lipton. Cute.

I remember Tina Cole from the show always concerned with casseroles, either making or burning one.

What everyone has been saying about how unmemorable the show's plots were is true. I know every cast member, but virtually no plots they were involved in. One exception: when Ernie was adopted, it was handled very well. Does anyone know if Mike ever got mentioned again once the character got married and left town?

It's so strange that after My Three Sons everyone thought MacMurray was typecast as the perfect dad. Although he did play nice guys in movies (The Egg and I), his most memorable roles cast him as a real bastard (Double Indemnity, The Caine Mutiny, The Apartment).

Above it was said that Mike was mentioned a few times after leaving the show.

R109 Thanks for posting, I like it too! Young people today (I know, ok boomer) shouldn't dismiss the corny, earnest stuff of the 60s. It was all very innocent and sincere and fun. We watched it and more or less accepted it. Nothing wrong with blondes.

His four Disney films Shaggy Dog 1959, Absent Minded Professor 1961, Son of Flubber 1963 and Happiest Millionaire 1967 probably did as much for his goody-two loafers image as MTS.

[quote]Funny how Don back then had to Anglicize his "ethnic" Italian name.

Fellow Musketeer Annette Funicello had no problem with her last name.

And for that matter neither did his TV brother Tom Considine.

*Mouseketeer

As others noted, the most memorable thing was the opening sequence. Here it is.

oops I meant not bub but the w demarest character: sucked ,, the later years sucked w/o fred mertz.

anyone else hang out with don hot grady? I DID !!!

i only watched it for tim c and don g.....not the other fug sons or that hack Demarest. Frawley was fab in all he did, he was a grouch but funny as fuk. mcmurrary seemed fake and boring and useless.

What was Bub's relationship to the family? Was he an Uncle like Uncle Charlie? And whose uncle was Uncle Charlie? Steve's?

i also met ricky nelson and his wife, pierre salinger ,eartha kitt and Bianca jagger at the daisy, a club in hwood in the sixtys….hella fun. ricky got drunk as fuk

Bub was he father of Steve's dead wife, and thus the boys' maternal grandfather. Uncle Charley was Bub's brother.

[quote] I remember Tina Cole from the show always concerned with assholes, either making or burning one.

That's how I originally read this post--I was very confused for a second.

[quote] Does anyone know if Mike ever got mentioned again once the character got married and left town?

Just a VERY few times.

You would think they would have brought Mike back for a few guest spots.

mike and fred fought over the same groupies......fukd up

[quote]Tina getting her groove on singing the Beatles with the Four King Cousins (she's the shortest of them).

Another King Cousin is Liza Rey Butler (or as I call her "the very tall one"in the back"). She is a renowned harpist and mother to Win and Will Butler of Arcade Fire.

The posters upthead are correct in saying that the plots were pretty forgettable. I watched the show regularly in its last 4 or 5 years. I honestly can't remember much of what happened. I mostly remember how annoying Dodie was. But I did like Beverly Garland.

But I do remember one episode where Robbie and Katie went back to Bryant Park for his high school reunion or something like that. Robbie was really looking forward to showing off his hometown to his wife, but everything had changed since the family moved to Los Angeles and Robbie was having a miserable time. Finally, as they are leaving town, Katie has the taxi driver go by the old Douglas house, which still looked exactly the same. That made Robbie feel better.

Some interesting trivia about the show with the Wikipedia entry

[quote]At the end of the 1970-1971 season (the show's 11th year), My Three Sons was still garnering healthy ratings. By the spring of 1971, it had finished in 19th place. A 1971 television pilot with Don Grady and Tina Cole called Three of a Kind, then retitled Robbie—about Robbie, Katie, and the triplets moving to San Francisco—was filmed but not picked up as a series.[5] The final episode of the 1970-1971 season, "After the Honeymoon", actually set up the premise for this pilot. The guest stars were Richard X. Slattery and Pat Carroll, who were featured as the landlords of the apartment block into which Robbie and Katie move. However, Don Grady had informed the producers of his intention to leave the series and pursue a new full-time career as a composer, which he ultimately did.

Don Grady should have posed for Playgirl.

R63, is that the CBS Chicago affiliate? I notice everything is an hour early compared to the East Coast broadcast. It must have been weird to have prime time starting at 6:30.

“Honey, why do we have to have dinner at 5:30?”

“So we can watch Jackie Gleason! I don’t want to miss one minute of those June Taylor Dancers. And maybe Crazy Guggenheim will be on. Who doesn’t love actors pretending to be drunk who can also sing?”

“You just described Dean Martin.”

“Him, too.”

MTS was produced by Don Fedderson whose son Mike Minor married Linda Kaye [Henning] when they appeared together on Petticoat Junction - produced by Linda's father Paul Henning who produced that show and The Beverly Hillbillies among others. Fedderson also produced Family Affair and To Rome With Love, and The Millionaire.

Don F. was married to former High School Hellcat, Yvonne Lime, who now runs a Meditation Center and Holistic Medicine emporium with her daughter in Arizona. She has been nominated FIVE times for a Nobel Peace Prize for her work with ChildHelp.....

I totally forgot that Crazy Guggenheim sang, r135!

Don had itty-bitty nipples

Don was cute, but he was no Luke Halpin.

R115

I can think of three episodes where Mike was mentioned. The first one without him, one time with an old business acquaintance of Steve, and another time an old flame of Steve's. It was said, "Mike was back east."

We can assume Mike and Billie Jo never had kids because you never hear about him being a grandfather

[quote]Beverly Garland and Ronne Troup (who played Polly) added nothing, and Dodie was absolutely unbearable.

I so agree with this. Beverly was the best of the three but she didn't do much. Polly just lumbered around awkwardly, and only wanted to marry Chip to get away from her father. Dodie was a total disaster who picked on Joanie from Happy Days.

Tim Considine wanted to direct more than act and also wanted to race cars which made him a literal liability. He directed a few episodes and went in to have a fairly successful career doing this on other shows. The car racing was real deal breaker--Fedderson didn't want an important property to literally crash and burn and so he was written out of the show. His character could be annoying and didactic, a psychologist in training and not a very good one. Bringing on Ernie helped the show go in a somewhat different, if cliche ridden direction, plus Barry Livingston was short so they didn't really have to reference his age that much.

I was an early teen during Tim Considine's last seasons. I knew without really being able to articulate it exactly, that I really, truly wanted to take his pants off and lick his pole.

The last few season Tim really grew into his looks.

Till he married Meredith who ruined Petticoat Junction with her version of Busty-Jo

Interesting the show wasn’t in the Nielsen top 10 ONCE. Yet ran for 12 years on two different networks. Aside from MacMurrays salary, it must’ve been cheap as hell to produce.

For those who do not know, "The MacMurray Method" is named after Fred MacMurray's insistence on a unique shooting plan that demanded that all scenes with him, for the upcoming season, be shot on consecutive days. This required all the other actors to be available to be filmed later, sometimes much later for shots that would then be edited into earlier filmed sequences with Mr. MacMurray. This created logistical nightmares. Wardrobe and hairstyles had to be coordinated over many months of shooting. Then there were the uncontrollable problems like the death of an actor or the sudden growth of a child actor.

More Info about Fred.

R146 yeah I was reading on Wikipedia how this caused continuity issues. Just like Brian Keith on Family Affair, who had the same deal. Ugh. Must’ve been a nightmare working this out as best they could. Not too mention the child actors who had to deal with it.

Shot that way so they could leave?

R159 it afforded MacMurray and Keith time off to pursue other jobs. Mainly film work.

From the article at R147

[quote]Though it must have been a logistical nightmare for the shows producers, this arrangement worked reasonably well. Until that is, the arrival of Dodie played by Dawn Lyn.

Dodie strikes again.

Did Dodie do anything after MTS? I can't imagine she would be on anything else.

Dawn Lyn had her own variety series for a while on CBS right after MTS ended, but she gave it all up after about a year because she said she had basically said everything that she had to say ("I've more or less shot my wad," was how she put it at the time). She became a reclusive multi-millionaire and lived in an exclusive penthouse in Las Vegas for the rest of her life.

Her IMDB page...

Her Wiki page....

How did she become a multi-millionaire?

[QUOTE]How did she become a multi-millionaire?

After FreddieMac, she was the second highest paid actor on the series. Then there is the convention circuit.

Why would you voluntarily watch this?

Why would you even bother posting in this thread?

[quote] What was Bub's relationship to the family?

Bub was the father of Steve Douglas' late wife (aka Steve's father in law), and Uncle Charlie was Bub's brother.

Oh look....Dodie was...a doll.

[quote] King Family Singers, a group of blond boring singers who, for some reason, had a number of specials during the 60s. If I'm not mistaken, they might have had a weekly tv show for a while. It was the blondest, blandest, whitest variety show you can imagine.

It sounds heavenly !

[quote]King Family Singers, a group of blond boring singers who, for some reason, had a number of specials during the 60s. If I'm not mistaken, they might have had a weekly tv show for a while. It was the blondest, blandest, whitest variety show you can imagine.

They were part of the Lawrence Welk family of performers.

A little trivia. Dodie (Dawn Lyn) is Leif Garrett's sister.

No they weren't, r163. They started as a singing sister group.

Such a.....sad....song.

BLARGH

The King sistren perform with Phyllis Diller

[quote]No they weren't, [R163]. They started as a singing sister group.

Ooops thinking of the Lennon Sisters on Welk.

Early King Sisters....with Alvino Rey

And....

Please. My Three Sons S-U-C-K-E-D! Anyone with a brain knows this.

I was five when the shop debuted. Even then I knew it was awful.

Mother: "Oh look, here's a new program about a man raising his sons."

Me: "N-o-o-o. I looks like it'll suck donkey balls!"

Mother: "Horrors!"

Was Dodie Robbie and Katie’s daughter?

Who the fuck names a kid Dodie?

I thought her name was Dopy.

[quote] Don had itty-bitty nipples

Sister Lani did not

I knew there was some reason I couldn't stand mcmurray, his 'method' of shooting all his scenes apart from the others so he could have lots time away, explains his lazy ass acting. ugh, he was the epitome of fake actors in my book, and the odd editing/continuity of that show, only the b/w years were good, with w Frawley,

don grady was my hero....

Dodie was the daughter of the widow Barbara who foisted her on the family when she and Steve married....

Beverly Garland said a friend called her and told her: "I have an audition to be Fred MacMurray's wife on My Three Sons - what should I wear?"

Beverly thought - if that bitch can be Fred's wife, I could, too. She called up her agent and got an audition and Bev got the part. She was never a shy blonde. She bragged about doing that in an article in TV GUIDE. She says: "I lost a friend - but I got the part!"

Wow. Bev was the Gwyneth Paltrow of the 60s sitcom set.

Well she didn't sabotage the friend's audition so she really didn't do anything wrong....

I liked by the end, when Don Grady quit and they had Katie move back into the house with the kids.

Steve was living with Katie, Barbara, Dodie, Ernie and Uncle Charlie and he supporting all these people he wasn't related to.

[quote]Just like Brian Keith on Family Affair, who had the same deal. Ugh. Must’ve been a nightmare working this out as best they could. Not too mention the child actors who had to deal with it.

Kathy "Cissy" Garver on the "Family Affair" DVDs, only she and Sebastian Cabot had it tough, because she was 18 (playing 16), so the kid's scenes had to be shot first also out of order, so they wouldn't go over time allowed. Then Brian Keith would shoot and finally she and Sebastian would shoot. She said often she and him would be around till midnight before they got around to shooting them.

If they had to shoot a scene with say Cissy talking to Buffy, she'd read her lines into the camera while off camera a stage hand would read Buffy's line, then they'd edit Buffy in later.

Well maybe not sabotage - but who knows WHAT she said or did.....she may have told the producers her friend was a "drunk" - she was NOT gracious about her actress contemporaries.....

[quote] She said often she and him would be around till midnight before they got around to shooting them.

When the little kids were out of the way, Cissy and Uncle Bill illustrated what a real family affair they had.

Cissy getting ready to go out on the town with Uncle Bill?

They always dressed Cissy like a 40 year old woman

Stanley Livingston (Chip) eventually married a stripper.

[quote] Dodie was the daughter of the widow Barbara who foisted her on the family when she and Steve married....

Did you expect her to put her up for adoption?

[quote]Yes, Ozzie and Harriet, was the original show about nothing.

I find it annoying how you people over-use and incorrectly use the "show about nothing" label just because you learned it from SEINFELD. Neither OZZIE AND HARRIET nor MY THREE SONS were "shows about nothing," they were shows about family life -- however good or bad the quality of the writing, the acting, etc. MY THREE SONS had the extra twist that there was no mother on hand, and OZZIE AND HARRIET had the extra twist that all of the main actors were playing fictionalized versions of their own family.

For that matter, SEINFELD was no more a "show about nothing" than lots of other shows. It was about the quirky Manhattan lives of the central character, loosely based on the comedian/actor who played him, and his quirky friends. Think of other hugely successful sitcoms through the decades and you'll probably have to agree that lots of them were "about nothing," or at least, not about much, and certainly not high concept.

"She said often she and him ...."

"She said often he and she ..."

MacMurray owned a ranch along the Russian River near Wohler Bridge. He used to call the Sonoma County Sheriff to clear out all the gay boys sunbathing nude (and doing other things) along the bank of the river.

[quote]Did you expect her to put her up for adoption?

Hardly. Dropping her outside a fire station with a note would have been more effective.

Yes, r188, absolutely.

Ugh, I need to post some Don Grady beauty to purge out all of this Dodie bilge.

How many gay boys were in love with him???

[quote] I find it annoying how you people over-use and incorrectly use the "show about nothing" label just because you learned it from SEINFELD.

But, all three were shows about "nothing" because nothing ever really happened, no real character development or crisis. The plots and jokes were always second to the personalities of the characters. The plots weren't built around witty repartee, slapstick, or social commentary, you basically just visit a group of people every week and watch their amusing lives. Being about nothing doesn't mean the show is not entertaining, though in the case of MTS it does. Ozzie and Harriet and Seinfeld, however were both supremely entertaining, each in their own way.

As the poster above said Tina Cole is on Facebook and she is a lot of fun. Stanley and Barry Livingston are on there, too. Stanley always posts anti-Trump memes with amusing comments and is a hippie liberal. Barry posts mostly about events.

Jon Provost and his wife writer Laurie Jacobson are very active on Facebook. He doesn't always respond to questions, but he posts some nice photos from his Lassie days. He is always quick to ban Trump supporters from his page.

Kathy Garver is also on Facebook and posts mostly about her family and the events she attends, but she responds to questions and is very personable.

As for The Nelsons....a reporter once asked David what was the difference between his television life and his real life, and David replied: "On television, my mother knows where the kitchen is."

A show about nothing = Seinfeld

versus

A show where nothing happens = Ozzie & Harriet, My Three Sons, etc.

is very, very different.

[quote] MacMurray owned a ranch along the Russian River near Wohler Bridge. He used to call the Sonoma County Sheriff to clear out all the gay boys sunbathing nude

Looks like a great place to get nekkid and pile up and wiggle in full sight of Mother Nature.

I always wanted to see the three sons rape dodie

Harriet was far too glamorous for the kitchen, r197.

Fred MacMurray was an asshole .

Tommy Kirk had a nice asshole.

[quote]After FreddieMac, she was the second highest paid actor on the series.

Are you talking about Dawn Lyn? Dodie?!?!?

Why would Dawn Lyn be the second highest paid actor?! A CHILD ACTOR?!?!

Surely the show paid more to Beverly Garland or William Demarest than they did to Dawn Lyn.

Surely Don Grady and Tina Cole made more than a 6 year old actor.

Intersting bit of trivia. We almost had Dawn Lyn on Nanny and the Professor instead.

[quote]She was cast as Dodie Douglas on the long-running family comedy television series My Three Sons. ABC sued unsuccessfully to get Lyn to perform in Nanny and the Professor after she had already been cast for My Three Sons. After ABC's lawsuit against Lyn failed, Kim Richards was cast as Prudence Everett, although Lyn was a brunette and Richards was a blonde.

Robbie was hot; then the show had to marry him off. Lost interest then.

His "father" may have forgotten him, but at least Mike Douglas got a send-off, unlike poor Bub, who just disappears off camera.

When I first saw Double Indemnity, I was amazed to discover that Fred MacMurray had actually been a handsome man in his youth. And that he had had an interesting career.

Mean girl Erin Moran bullies Dodie

R208, I was just about to post a similar comment. Double Indemnity startled me; I had no idea that MacMurray had that kind of range.

On a TCM short bio clip, one of his daughters - Kate I think - says that the family was at Disneyland and a woman approached MacMurray and slapped him in the face.

She said she had taken her sons to see The Apartment because Fred was in it and was horrified by the film.

Kate says Fred turned to wife June Haver and said: "That's it.....only Disney movies for me from now on...."

One thing I will about the Dodie clips at r209: the directors were brave, because it must have been miserable getting children that young to do a scene together. Erin Moran is really good for a child actor that young--it is so sad to think of what a tragic end she had coming. Would parents have their children do television if they fully understood how fucked-up they become because of the whole experience.

I am glad for her sake Dawn Lyn (Garrett) survived all that seemingly okay, but she is such a singularly charmless child actor. Usually you can see how child actors might appeal to frauen, but she's not very pretty and she's a mouthbreather, and she doesn't say her lines very winningly,. it's a mystery to me why she was such a hot commodity.

[quote] On a TCM short bio clip, one of his daughters - Kate I think - says that the family was at Disneyland and a woman approached MacMurray and slapped him in the face. She said she had taken her sons to see The Apartment because Fred was in it and was horrified by the film.

I would have loved it if he had slapped her back, hard--with his huge hand--and said, "It was a Billy Wilder film, you stupid cunt. Why the fuck would you have brought your children?"

[quote]A show about nothing = Seinfeld versus a show where nothing happens = Ozzie & Harriet, My Three Sons, etc. is very, very different.

Really? Then please explain the difference for us. I think it's just semantics. And it's not true that "nothing happened" on OZZIE & HARRIET or MY THREE SONS. Of course, there were various occurrences and events and subplots to which the characters reacted, even if you didn't find them interesting.

My Three Sons endlessly recycled cliches from other sitcoms of the time. They had to fill 36-39 episodes/year in the early days and they had to have a large fraction of the scripts written by the start of the shooting season to accommodate MacMurray's schedule. The first year had some interesting episodes,, taking advantage of the n on-continuous filming and the novelty of a widower and his kids. After that, they got someone else to write and direct who was much more of a hack and that continued throughout the shows run. Because scripts had to be done in a bloc, there probably were fewer continuity problems across episodes.

Caught a late episode on MeTV recently. Visually, it looked like shit. Yet, Hogan’s heroes looks pristine and in hd. Both were filmed shows.

r209 that clip is such a bunch of horse shit. Those girls should have beat the shit out of Dodie. When Dodie was taking a drink out of that fucking water fountain they should have pushed her from behind so she hit her head on the fountain and knocked some more of those filthy teeth out. That little bitch thought she was such hot shit, she deserves to be taught a fucking lesson. I hope some of those girls had big brothers too and they molest and or rape that little Dodie cunt. I hate her!

I will say, that's so funny to see the sandwiches in wax paper! I'd forgotten all about that.

I'd put Beverly Garland in the same league as Patty Duke.

[quote][R209] that clip is such a bunch of horse shit. Those girls should have beat the shit out of Dodie. When Dodie was taking a drink out of that fucking water fountain they should have pushed her from behind so she hit her head on the fountain and knocked some more of those filthy teeth out. That little bitch thought she was such hot shit, she deserves to be taught a fucking lesson. I hope some of those girls had big brothers too and they molest and or rape that little Dodie cunt. I hate her!

That should happen to you.

Duke was a much better actress. Garland was a pleasant presence who was fine for a wife you didn't want to dominate a show. She previously had been a sweater girl/scream queen for Roger Corman which is not something that last into middle age.

Duke was a better actor but I still enjoy Garland to the same extent 220.

[quote]His "father" may have forgotten him, but at least Mike Douglas got a send-off, unlike poor Bub, who just disappears off camera.

On the first show without Frawley as Bub, Charlie (Demarest) shows up at the house, unannounced, to visit his brother. I think Charlie was a merchant seaman. Steve tells Charlie that Bub is in Ireland visiting family members, so Charlie moves in and takes over Bub's housekeeping duties. Bub is never mentioned again. Not even an off-camera death.

Ar some point after Ernie was adopted, someone says to Steve, of Ernie, or maybe Chip, "You have a fine son." Steve responds: "I have three fine sons." So, yes, at that point, Steve has literally forgotten that Mike ever existed.

Beverly Garland was the first performer to open a tab top can on television - she dropped the tab into the soda and is responsible for the death of at least dozen people.

She was also the first performer on television to use a resealable baloney package.....

She was also a cunt.

[quote]I'd put Beverly Garland in the same league as Patty Duke.

Well that's horseshit. Beverly Garland was scream queen in the same league as Jamie Lee Curtis.

She also co-starred with a giant cucumber.

R225, good idea.

What fine acting from Dodie!!

Beverly Garland was indeed a scream queen. I remember an interview with her from years ago in which she attributed her early success to "a strong set of lungs."

Fun fact: Not a single member of the King Family was actually named King.

Dodie was that kid in first grade who ate her boogers or wet her pants.

I watched the entire 12 seasons on MeTV last year, and I learned some valuable life lessons along the way, but once was enough.

And Robbie was some hot piece of ass, although his character was often a whiny bitch.

[quote]She also co-starred with a giant cucumber.

Have some respect, his name was Fred MacMurray.